One Last Dance
by Gwenivere River
Summary: The night of the New Years party is supposed to bring everyone joy and happiness. But when it comes time to give some bad news can Derek lift up the mood again? - Derek/Angie


**Hi people, this is only a oneshot just so you know seeing as I really don't have any good plots in mind at this moment when it came to Trauma Center.**

**This story is dedicated to TCGeek! I hope you like it! ^_^**

**-Gwen**

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The annual New Years Eve party occurred every December 31st at 9:00 midnight and ended at 1:00 in the morning after the fireworks. Normally the Caduceus crew would head out somewhere amazing where there was enough room to throw a good party and maybe even hold a couple contests before the evening was done. Tonight was a very special evening but also one that would leave everyone slightly shaken.

Derek Stiles wasn't a remarkable dancer but he was good enough at it that he would not step on his partners toes. That evening called for formal wear and the ability to dance at all. There was a slight chance that he would be dancing that evening even though it was against his will…or not. Angie knew how to dance but never saw a use for it really, only at certain parties. Normally the New Years party wasn't so formal but this year was different, the theme was drawn from a hat and that's what came out. Peachy.

At nine that evening everyone showed up in the hospital cafeteria, for some reason they got trapped there due to too much snow everywhere else. But all the tables were pushed to the side except one that held snacks and drinks, and then the whole floor was cleared out for dancing.

Derek showed up in a classy suit, he wore a dress shirt with a blue tie and a black overcoat, some black pants and slick dress shoes. His hair was his usual messy look since it was simply impossible to work with. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and headed towards the snack table, seeing as he'd been too busy to eat dinner. He began to snack on a couple doughnuts hunched over to hide the fact that he was going against his own eat healthy rule. Leslie and Tyler showed up next, dressed formally as well. Tyler was wearing a suit as well but more in a gray color than black, a blue dress shirt and some jeans, okay not looking as classy as Derek appeared.

Leslie had her teal colored hair pulled back in little butterfly shaped hair clips, wearing a sparkly blue dress that came down just above her ankles. She was holding Tyler's hand and looking at him in an almost dazed kind of gaze. The two of them headed straight for the chairs where they sat lost in each other until the rest of the group showed up.

Already there, Sidney Kasal, Robert Hoffman, and the guests; Cybil and Greg Kasal were standing around chatting as well. Still next to the snack table Derek stood nearly stuffing his face, his stomach had been completely empty until now. He was now digging into some of those mini hotdogs - that was until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around still chewing on something when he saw Angie standing there looking absolutely gorgeous. He wasn't sure how he missed her arrival but she was there!

Angie was wearing the most gorgeous outfit, her hair was curled just a little bit, pulled back into a pretty bun with little waves and curls left hanging in a ponytail from there. Her pink dress was hanging down below her ankles and stopped just above her feet, accompanied by a white sweater that hung long over her hands only showing the tips of her fingers, the man part of it was buttoned only at the bottom, only covering her chest. The dress had a V neck that stopped just above her chest. Her heels made her look just a little taller than she actually was, they were white and strapped around her feet comfortably.

"A-" Derek almost began but forgot about the food in his mouth, he swallowed and gagged, literally choking on the piece of meat he'd been eating. Angie gasped in shock and went around his back, bring her arms up under his and locking her hands together over his chest and tightening her grip. She could hear Derek struggling to breathe.

"Come on…" She muttered through clenched teeth and she tried again a bit harder this time and with satisfaction she heard Derek cough and the little hotdog landed on the floor.

"Feeling better?" She asked happily as she came around to look at him. His face was red with embarrassment as his he reached up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Fine, thanks…" He said nervously. He hated for that to happen, but his excitement got the better of him when it came to her. All of a sudden a nasty feeling came into his stomach.

Oh no…I almost forgot. I think I'll tell her at the end, no reason to spoil a perfectly good evening.

Angie tilted her head with the most adorable smile splayed across her beautiful face, she put her hands on his shoulders and stood up straighter to kiss him.

"You look great tonight, Derek! Did you get a hair cut?" She asked.

"N-No, I just combed it…" His hair didn't look like it had been combed at all, it looked pretty messy actually, as normal.

"You look great too, Ang, beautiful as ever." He said joyfully as he kissed her back near her ear before whispering sweet nothings to her.

"Aww look!" A voice rang loudly suddenly, Leslie's unmistakably, "Derek and Angie are here! I didn't see them earlier!"

The kiss was immediately broken off as the couple looked back to see Tyler and Leslie standing there smiling mischievously and shaking their heads.

"They plan on escaping before fireworks…" Tyler laughed as he gently nudged Leslie which made her giggle as well.

Derek groaned, "Come on, do you think I'm actually like that?"

"Yes." Tyler and Leslie said in unison as the watched him.

"Oh come on guys, don't be like that to Derek…or me." Angie said as she linked arms with him and rested her head on his chest, "He's such a good guy."

Derek didn't feel like a good guy, there was still that thing he was keeping from her and it was making him feel really sick. He wanted to tell her but didn't want to ruin the evening. He became really quiet in the middle of the conversation, only listening to them chat back and forth about medical things and family issues. Then New Years resolutions. Eventually Greg and Cybil came to talk as well, telling about Kari and how she was talking nonstop now.

Derek finally shook himself out a daze when Angie tugged on his arm looking at him with worry in her eyes.

"Honey, I know you have a tendency to daydream sometimes but for you to not jump into conversation is really weird. Are you sick?" She brought her hand to his forehead as if checking for a fever. He shook his head slowly and cleared his throat.

"No, I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind right now, please forgive me." He glanced away from her and could see Greg Kasal looking at him with a serious expression on his face.

"Derek, can I discuss something with you about that uh…that treatment?" asked Greg as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Greg? What treatment?" Cybil asked in confusion, she looked at him with worry written all over her face. He leaned over and whispered something to her and she nodded quickly, "Ah! I remember now, forgive me." She smiled and moved to talk to Angie, who was looking confused as ever.

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Greg and Derek walked over to a quiet corner in the cafeteria. The elder surgeon motioned for Derek to sit down and then he took a seat next to him with a serious expression on his face.

"When are you going to tell her?" He asked in a serious tone.

"At the end of the party, I don't see any reason to ruin a perfectly good evening." Derek replied nervously, he began to twiddle his thumbs as he looked down, unable to make eye contact with his old mentor.

"Derek…this is important and she'll think you're leaving her out if you don't tell her now. You're leaving tomorrow, I suggest opening your mouth and telling her before it's too late." Greg said pointing a finger at the young man sitting there with a blank expression on his face.

"Fine…just let me have some good time with her before I do…it'll ruin her evening if I tell her now." Derek said as he got up and began walking back over to the snack table.

Greg sighed and watched his student walk away slowly, this was going to be a hard evening for both Derek and Angie.

Especially when it came time to say goodbye.

"There you are Derek! What did Greg talk to you about?" Angie asked when he finally came back, he put his arm around her shoulder and smiled.

"Nothing important." Derek lied through his teeth, he already felt guilty for that but kept it hidden.

"Ah, okay." Angie said as she looked up into his eyes, it felt good to be there with him and she hoped it would last forever. Only Derek knew it wouldn't, time would fly and then…no, he didn't want to think about that, it was better to keep it to himself. But that feeling of dread came over him as he watched everyone have a good time, he didn't want to ruin this. The only people who knew were Greg, Cybil, Tyler and Leslie…but Angie didn't know. He couldn't seem to bring himself to tell her what was happening. Finally as the clock hit eleven that night the music came to a slow and the lights were turned out, darker lights were put on for the mood.

Derek got up and looked at Angie with a smile, "Care to dance?" He asked as he held out his hand for her to take.

Angie smiled up at him and gracefully took his hand as he pulled her gently out of her seat and walked with her onto the dance floor. They began to slow dance together, Angie's head rested gently against Derek's chest while he had his hand placed on her side and the other hand holding hers. Her hand was on his shoulder.

"Derek this is the best evening of my life." She whispered as she looked up at him, her green eyes sparkled with joy.

"M-Mine too." Derek gulped, it was getting close to the time he'd have to tell her…but he couldn't. He just couldn't bring himself to ruin the best evening of her life. And then it happened, his head started to spin and he felt warm. He stepped back away from her and stumbled to the floor, landing with a thud.

"DEREK?!" Angie exclaimed as she went to help him up, thankfully he hadn't fainted full on he just couldn't see straight briefly.

"Derek, are you okay?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah, fine, I think I just tripped." He pushed himself up off the floor and hugged her, "I'm okay, see?" He backed up and held out his arms, acting like nothing had happened at all. But Angie still looked worried, he had to find a way to make her forget it. So he moved towards her and took her in his arms, placing a kiss directly on her soft pink lips. She closed her eyes and fell into it, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him back.

Eventually they stopped and started to dance again, holding each other close as they did. Derek sighed happily trying to forget about what was going to happen, he didn't want to worry about it. When it hit midnight the clock went off and they all looked out the large cafeteria windows to watch the fireworks. It was an amazing sight. Derek held Angie there as they all shot off loudly and each of them mouthed off a new years resolution.

_I won't keep anymore secrets._ Derek thought as he looked at Angie, she looked so excited and beautiful as the colorful sparks went off, illuminating in her eyes. It almost expressed the joy she was feeling inside. He sighed nervously and took her hand deciding it was time to do this.

"Angie, want to take a walk with me?" He asked her after the fireworks ended and everyone went back to chatting and dancing after singing Auld Lang Syne.

"I'd love to, Derek!" She said happily as they walked out of the cafeteria and down the halls of Caduceus, everything was still decorated from Christmas and some of the things said "Happy New Year" as well. It was very quiet in the halls except the clomping and clicking of shoes on the floor.

"So did you have something to talk about, Derek?" Angie asked as she looked at him, she almost had a hopeful look in her eye as she walked next to him.

"Actually yes…it's very important." Derek's voice came out a bit weaker than he hoped. This caused Angie's expression to go from pure bliss to absolute worry.

"Derek, what's going on?" She asked, as she stopped him, her face seemed to be holding some fear now, had he scared her that much?

"Angie, I'm…dying." Derek began.

Angie's expression turned serious yet grim, "Don't be silly…world renown surgeons don't just die!" She told him.

"Angie…I'm serious. I'm dying and I have to leave tomorrow to Europe for treatment." Derek put his hands on her shoulders but she stepped back, her eyes welling up with tears at his words.

"This isn't funny! Stop playing around!" She cried.

"Angie, I'm not, please believe me, I wouldn't joke about this…" Derek held her in his arms but she was stiff and sobbing now, everything had gone down hill in one sitting and all because he had to tell her this.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, who else knows?" She asked.

"Everyone…I was too scared to tell you, I just couldn't bring myself to do it." He admitted nervously.

"So you wait until the last minute?! Derek! I…I can't believe you!" She cried out, pushing him away. She was having a break down and there was nothing Derek could do about but reassure her that everything would be just fine. He came towards her and kissed her.

"Angie…I'm just going for treatment…I'll be okay." He put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up gently so that she was looking him in the eyes.

"Everything will be okay." He whispered as he pulled her close to him and kissed the top of her head. He could feel her relaxing in his arms as she continued to cry and finally it subsided.

"You're leaving tomorrow?" She asked weakly.

"Yes." He replied.

"Can I have one last dance?" Angie questioned as she rested her head against his chest.

Derek smiled, "Of course."

He clasped one hand in his and placed his other on her side while she put hers on his shoulder, looking into his eyes lovingly.

"I love you, Derek." Angie whispered.

"I love you too, Angie." Derek gave her a kiss and continued to dance with her in the dark quiet hall.

They shared one last kiss.

_And one last dance._

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**I'm really risking everything putting this story up. I could get a nasty review again and if that happens I think I'll just disappear forever. I can't stand that.**

**I really hope you like this, TCGeek! ^_^ I know it's not that good but maybe it'll give you some ideas. =)**

**-Gwen**


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